Cruz: Endorsing Trump Needed to Be Done For The Good Of The Country

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the decision to look past the slights he and his family suffered through the taunts of former rival Donald Trump became clear when he focused on something else — the needs of the nation Cruz has sworn to serve and protect

“This is not personal. This is not about our family,” he told KTRK on Friday after having endorsed the billionaire who was once his bitter enemy. “It’s about the country.”

“There were no deals,” Cruz said. “We had been engaged in conversations. You know it’s been a decision as I said I’ve been thinking about and praying about for weeks and months, discussing it with my family.”

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Although the attacks Cruz endured from Trump when both were doing everything they could to win the Republican presidential nomination were like nothing he had ever experienced in politics before, his conscience told him he had to forgive.

“ … there’s always criticism. If no one is throwing rocks at you, you’re not doing much of anything,” Cruz said.

“I’ve discussed it with both Heidi and my dad. I love my wife. I love my dad. Both of them have forgiven Donald. I have forgiven him,” Cruz said

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“I have spent several months thinking about it, praying about the right course of action, and I’ve discussed the right course of action with both Heidi and my dad, both of whom I love with all my heart,” Cruz told the Texas Tribune. “And all three of us have decided to forgive the past and my focus in making this decision was on trying my best to do the right thing for the country.”

Cruz had told Republican National Convention delegates to “vote your conscience” and said he is following his own advice.

“I don’t believe I could in good conscience look my kids in the eyes and say I sat by” and let Clinton win, Cruz said.

Cruz Friday said the list Trump released Friday of possible Supreme Court justices was vital not only to his action, but for the country.

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“The campaign had never said that before,” Cruz said. “That list is a very, very strong list, and I got to tell you, for me and everyone else who cares about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, that is a big, big deal to make the promise that this is the list that you can know the people from whom” justices will be selected.

In Cruz’s Facebook post announcing his endorsement, he noted that he was motivated to act by the specter of a Clinton presidency.

“If Clinton wins, we know — with 100% certainty — that she would deliver on her left-wing promises, with devastating results for our country.

“My conscience tells me I must do whatever I can to stop that,” he wrote.

“We also have seen, over the past few weeks and months, a Trump campaign focusing more and more on freedom — including emphasizing school choice and the power of economic growth to lift African-Americans and Hispanics to prosperity,” he added.

“Our country is in crisis. Hillary Clinton is manifestly unfit to be president, and her policies would harm millions of Americans. And Donald Trump is the only thing standing in her way,” Cruz also said in endorsing Trump.